Submissions

This issue is a pertinent one for the disability community. Disabled people are disproportionately low-income earners and live in poverty. Work and Income figures from 2018 showed that 54% of all beneficiaries receiving a benefit from the agency either had a disability or health condition.

Disabled people in paid employment are also more likely to earn considerably less than non-disabled people with the average weekly income for disabled people in 2023 reported to be $1,018 and for non-disabled people $1,273, representing a difference of $255 per week.

These factors contribute to the increased risk that results in some disabled people gambling disproportionately high amounts of their income.

Despite being at increased risk, there has been minimal recognition of the need for disabled people to be seen as an identified group which experiences inequitable outcomes and gambling harm.